Happy Turkey Day

So we're back! We had a whirlwind vacation (term used loosely), and we're back in old El Paso. East, West, home is best, as they say. Thanks to Paula for putting us up in CA, as usual! We had a very good, if not restful, time, and below are some highlights:

Jennie & Tyler's wedding! They got married the Saturday before Snakesgiving, with a great little ceremony & nice reception at a local OC place. It was a very nice event, great also for seeing family & friends that we otherwise wouldn't have. Tyler is a great guy & is a welcome addition to our/their family. We got to see a lot of him, as Jennie & he are living there in Paula's house. Good times!

Jeff & I got to do karaoke with a couple friends & relatives, which was SUPER fun. It reminded me of when Jeff & I used to be footloose & fancy free back in the Triassic Period when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Everyone was drinking & singing & showing off, really. You sing better when you're trying your best to show yourself off, you know. Also having some booze in you helps. Very fun. Then we did it again, the last day we were in CA, with the whole family, dragging Paula & Jennie & Tyler & kids along. We enjoyed it & hopefully didn't pierce their eardrums with the high note of "My Way".

Thanksgiving was nice...we 'did' the usual family thing at Paula's, and then I persuaded Jeff to drive us all the way up to see my family that evening, which he did, and we had a good time there too. Got to see the Uncle & Aunt, of course, and also Grandma Mary, all of whom seemed delighted to see us & the kids. Gotta take advantage of these opportunities to see everyone, as we live so far away now.

What else? Let's see: Jeff awoke at the ungodly hour of 3:30!!! AM with his Mom to go shopping for the exceptional deals they have on Black Friday (the day-after-thanksgiving-super-sale-day, for the uninitiated)....can you believe it? I thought he was crazy, but they seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Got some new bedding that is featured prominently in the next paragraph as "Huge impediment to leaving California with all our stuff in the car".

Huge impediment to leaving California with all our stuff in the car: we had too much stuff. We couldn't fit it all. It was literally a scientific, mathematical impossibility, like travelling faster than the speed of light, or me fitting into a size 6 jean. You get the idea. Why? We were trying to fit 4 king sized comforters (don't ask) & a few bedding sets to go along with them (decorative pillows, sheet sets, Euro pillows, etc), about 7 bags (including suitcases, duffles, etc), 10+ fully wrapped presents for Christmas, 2 ...um...King sized adults, 2 children with oversized carseats, 2 huge bags of toys for the trip (ha! couldn't reach anything to get any toys out of 'em the entire time!), a DVD player, a "snack" bag, a stroller (NOT UMBRELLA), and a standard "TOTO" porcelain toilet in our 5 seater Toyota Avalon sedan. THIS IS ALL TRUE EXCEPT FOR THE TOILET. And I'm surprised we hadn't thrown that in just for good measure. Oh yes, and a fan. For white noise at night. And diapers. Many diapers. So guess what we ended up doing? We sat there, friends and neighbors, and vacuum packed everything we owned that could have air sucked out of it. All our clothes, the bedding, everything. I was SO afraid that when we stopped in Phoenix overnight we would come back to the parking lot to find our car had blown up like a balloon in the middle of the night. If everything had reinflated, we would've been in BAD trouble. Thank God it didn't. When we reached terra firma of El Paso, I literally danced a jig of happiness that we arrived home with our stuff intact, and us intact too. Well, almost intact...pieces of my scalp with hair attached are strewn along the 10 due to the never-ending whine fest that was Noah & Dillon. Road trips with young children are SUCH a joy. But that's a whole other story.

In closing, I'm thankful for:
My husband, and my children. My boys, my loves. I've been so blessed and so happy. Every day with you is a gift.
My larger family, my parents & siblings, my in-laws & out-laws (cheapshot), who have all been so good to me. I've been so lucky there too. I love & miss you all.
My health.
Our house.
Jeff's job in this bad economy that allows me to care for our boys at home.
My friends, most of whom I haven't seen in awhile. Miss you!
Wine, karaoke, and good times. Happy times.
Increasing peace as I get older.

That's all now. See pics above. Comment, or I will track you down & sit on you.